The owners of Mom’s Country Orchards produce stand and store in Oak Glen have filed a $1.15 million claim against San Bernardino County for what they consider to be overzealous and politically motivated code enforcement.

Alison Law-Mathisen and Yvette Birdsall are the claimants. The filing stems from years-old disputes involving county code enforcement, musket fire and several Oak Glen business owners.

The claim alleges that the county’s actions forced Law-Mathisen and Birdsall to spend three years defending themselves from an unjust lawsuit that was dropped before going to trial.

Mom’s Country Orchards’ owners are seeking damages, claiming harm to their business, defamation, pain and suffering. They also seek attorney’s fees.

“It would almost make me cry to talk about what this has done to my credibility in the community,” Law-Mathisen said.

The claim was filed July 6. County officials can choose to settle or reject the claim. Rejection would allow Law-Mathisen and Birdsall to file a lawsuit.

“The county has not yet begun its legal review of the claim yet and therefore doesn’t have any comment on the contents of the claim,” county spokesman David Wert said.

Oak Glen is an apple-growing community in the mountains above Yucaipa. Tourists seeking locally grown apples and fresh baked goods are critical to its economy.

The events that led to the filing of the new claim go back at least as far as 2005, when some business owners raised objections to another Oak Glen business, Riley’s Farm, hosting re-enactments of the American Independence and the Civil wars.

The following year, Mom’s County Orchards and other Oak Glen business owners got hit with notifications that their own businesses lacked the necessary paperwork to be in 100 percent compliance with county regulations.

Andrew Edwards covers business and higher education for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. He has previously covered City Hall in Long Beach. He has spent his entire career in Southern California, having worked at publications including the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Sun and Daily Pilot before coming to Long Beach. He graduated from UCLA in 2003 after studying political science and history.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.